The Ojibwe News / Native American Press (Bemidji, Minnesota), 1998-10-02

              Mankato pow-wow controversy showing
signs of reconciliation
By Julie Shortridge
It looks like change is brewing at the
annual Mankato pow-wow, held this
year at Land of Memories Park Sept.
18-120. As reported in these pages two
weeks ago. Lower Sioux member Alan
(Al)Ellerwasdeniedavendorpermitat
the Mankato pow-wow two years in a
row, and was not allowed to set up his
equipment for taking pictures of powwow goers in traditional dress or other
Native imagery.
At first, Sam Casper, president ofthe
Mahkato Mdewakaton Association
and Bev Boulin, Association member
who is in charge of all vendor
contracts, said they turned Eller down
because he uses a computer and that's
not traditional.
Yet three independent sources
confirmed that last year the
Association had allowed another man
to come in and do the same thing Eller
does with a computer, even though
that other guy is non-Indian and does
not use any Native American imagery
in his photographs.
Later, according to Eller, Boulin said
the computer was no longer the issue,
but she still would not allow him to b e
avendorbecause she didn't like Eller's
attitude.
"I had a positive attitude until I was
denied two years in a row without any
valid reason. Andl'mnottheonlyone
having problems with the Association,
said Bev Boulin.   Why shouldn't I
challenge them on their actions?" said
Eller. This is the only traditional powwow where Eller has been denied
vending privileges.
Several other vendors confirmed the
difficult, arbitrary and personal nature
of Boulin'sdecision-making regarding
who gets to be a vendor at the Mankato
pow-wow and who doesn't. It was
particularly irksome when Indian
people, who had to prove their Indian
heritage with multiple pieces of
documentation and sometimes would
still be denied a vending permit, would
see non-Indian friends of Boulin's there
as vendors, sometimes with very non-
traditional merchandise.
POW-WOW/topg.5
Six indicted in LL assistance scheme
Minneapolis — U.S. Attorney Todd
Jones today (Oct. 1) announced the
indictment of formerLeech Lake Band
Secretary-Treasurer James D. Michaud
and five others who are al leged to have
participated in a wide ranging
conspiracy to iiisapply tribal fund.%
and provide "kick backs" to Michaud.
The indictment also alleges money
laundering and tax offenses.
The grand jury alleged in the
indictment that James Michaud
improperly approved the payment of
the funds for work that was either not
done or was over billed. It is further
alleged that a share of the payments
improperly approved by James
Michaud to his co-defendants were
then "kicked back" to James Michaud
Named in the indictment are James D.
Michaud, age42, from Bena, MN, his
brothers Charles A Michaud, age 46,
and Robert A. Michaud, age 43, both
from DeerPiver,MN,RobertJ.Gotchie,
age 3 6. also from Deer River, MN, and
David Murray, age 55, and his wife,
Donna Murray, age 52, both from
Fosston, MN. Five ofthe defendants
were arrested today and are scheduled
to make initial appearancesbeforeU.S.
Magistrate Judge Randall Burg in
Bemidji. Defendant Gotchie is currently
in local custody serving an unrelated
sentence and will make his initial court
appearance in the near future.
According to the indictment, nearly
$1.1 million of tribal funds were
misapplied during the operation ofthe
scheme from on or before December
1990 to on or about July 1994 when
James Michaud was defeated in his bid
to be re-elected as Secretary-Treasurer.
Part ofthe conspiracy was alleged to
have involved the submission of false
invoices to James Michaud for work
purportedly done by his co-
defendants. All totaled, the indictment
alleges the misapplication of tribal
funds by James Michaud to his co-
defendants of at least $877,157 from
January 1993 through July 1994 for
Indictment/to pg 3
Cherokee court deadline passes, no files
returned
TAHLEQUAROK (AP)-Adeadline
set by a Cherokee Nation judge passed
Tuesday without the return of district
court documents to the tribal
courthouse.
The chief justice for the tribe's
highest court had ordered Associate
District Judge DeWay ne Littlejohn to
return the files, which have been stored
at tribal headquarters since last year.
No files had been delivered by Dwight
Birdwell's 1 p.m. deadline, the court
clerk said.
The three members ofthe Judicial
Appeals Tribunal will discuss possible
action, Birdwell said. "The most
important thing is the Cherokee Nation
stands to lose in excess of $1 million
and Cherokee citizens will continue to
be denied access to the district court
system," he said.
A Cherokee administrator has
warned that the deadlock could
jeopardize almost $1 million in federal
funds earmarked forchild welfare. The
conflict is rooted inpolitical infighting
that began with the execution of a
search warrant on Chief Joe Byrd's
offices in 1997.
The judicial system was split
between Byrd loyalists and the justices
who issued the warrant in an
investigation into alleged
misspending. Cherokee judges must
start hearing some child welfare cases
and review other cases before audits
of federal funds take place in mid-
October, Bill Clark, tribal program
director, recently told the Tribal
Council.
Attempts to reach Littlejohn for
comment at his Stilwell law office
Tuesday were not immediately
successful. Birdwell had asked for
Byrd's cooperation in transferring the
files back to the courthouse. But the
chief s spokeswoman, Lynn Adair, said
that separation of powers among the
tribe's three branches prohibited his
involvement. "It's something the
judicial branch will have to work "i
she said.
About 130 rally for wolf protection
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - About 130
people rallied Saturday to protest
attempts to allow hunting or trapping
of wolves if the government follows
through on a plan to take the predators
off the endangered species list.
Attending were members of local
American Indian bands, people
dressed in papier-mache wolf costumes
and even some members ofa roundtable
group that worked to develop a state
wolf-management plan.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
planning to remove the gray wolf from
the endangered or threatened species
list in at least 32 states, including
Minnesota.
In response, a wolf roundtable met
for several months to develop a guide
for the Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources, which likely will
inherit wolf management.
Biologists contend the wolf
population has made a dramatic
rebound since 1974, when wolves in
the lower 48 states were protected
under the Endangered Species Act.
But a roundtable delegate, Durk
Gescheidle, said there are too many
unresolved issues for wolf "delisting"
to occur now. "The roundtable was
not an endorsement of delisting,"
Gescheidle of the Animal Rights
Coalition told the Duluth News-
Tribune.
"The wolf needs to be respected and
honored and protected," said Linda
Hatfield, who served on the roundtable
as an alternate for Friends of Animals
and the Environment. She said more
data is needed on the wolf population
before it is taken off the endangered
list.
Top Indian official criticizes lobbying by
tribes
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
administration's top Indian official has
criticized tribes for lobbying Congress
on "side issues" while not fighting
hard enough for badly needed
increases in federal aid to improve
tribal schools and law enforcment. "We
don't have our eye on the ball right
now," said Kevin Gover, a former tribal
lobbyist from Albuquerque,N.M., who
is the Interior Department's assistant
secretary for Indian affairs.
Congress is expected to provide the
Clinton administration with only a
fraction ofthe big increases it sought
for repairing Indian schools and
bolstering law enforcement on
violence-plagued reservations.
Gover, a Pawnee who is finishing his
first year running the Bureau oflndian
Affairs, took some of the blame himself
Thursday.
In a question-and-answer session
with reporters, he said he waited too
long in the congressional budget
process to start working with
lawmakers. But he also faulted tribal
leaders, saying they have spent too
much time and money fighting
proposals in Congress that "never were
a threat or ... never had a chance of
passing. We're too easily distracted
by these side issues."
He cited a Senate committee's
amendment that would have taken
some federal aid from the nation's
richest tribes and redistributed the
Chip Wadena contemplat
comeback
WHITE EARTH, Minn. (AP) - A
White Earth Band of Chippewa leader
says it won't be easy for former tribal
Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena to
return to power once he gets out of
prison.
Wadena is expected to be released
by Christmas from a federal prison
camp in Yankton, S.D., where he is
finishing a sentence for corruption.
He said in a newspaper interview this
week that he would consider running
to regain his post of tribal chairman. He
said he will return to the White Earth
Reservation in northwestern
Minnesota, and if he senses support
for running, "I'd take a look at it."
But tribal Secretary-Treasurer Erma
Vizenor said Friday his comments were
"very, very premature."
Wadena was tribal chairman for two
decades before a federal jury in 1996
found him and two otherofficials guilty
of money-laundering, embezzlement,
conspiracy, theft and bribery for
rigging construction bids forthe tribe's
Shooting Star Casino and other
corruption.
"His return to politics... depends on
Michaud brothers indicted in alleged LL assistance racket, pg. 1
White Earth and Leech Lake election results, pg. 1,8
Pow-wow controversy moves toward resolution, pg. 1
American Indian vs. Anishinabeg'Ojibwe, pg. 3
Arrest of former Leech Lake officials worth wait, pg. 4
Will tobacco settlement funds discourage all uses?, pg. 5
Voice ofthe People
email: prBsson@paulbunyan.nBt
Native
American
Press
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Ojibwe
Mews
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Volume 10 issue 51
October 2,1908
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A weekly publication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1898
Former I "n h I akeRB( So'-retary-Treasurer Jim Michaud, along with his brothers Robert and Charles,
leave the Beltrami County Court house on October 1 st after their arrest and arraignment by federal agents on
a 14-count indictment for allegedly conspiring to misappropriate tribal funds, money laundering and tax
offenses. U.S. Magistrate Randy Berg released the Michauds on their own recognizance. They were
informed that their next court appearance would be in Duluth, MN within a week.
Leech Lake elects housing board, Dist. Ill
candidates; White Earth incumbents win
money to poor reservations.
Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., later
dropped the proposal in exchange for
Gover's pledge to study the needs and
resources of tribes and propose a more
equitable way of funding them. BIA
officials acknowledge that there are
wide disparities in the way federal aid
is distributed to tribes. But some tribes
that object to disclosing their revenue
have criticized Gover for agreeing to
do the study. Gover said it will prove
that most reservations need far more
assistance than they get. Tribes rely
heavily on the BIA to fund social
services, education and law
enforcement. "These programs have
Lobbying/to pg. 5
a political
the will ofthe people," Vizenor said.
"The sentiment throughout the tribe is
that the tribal council take corrective
action so that convicted felons who
commit crimes against the people do
not step into that public position again.
Not that they cannot ever do it, but
that they do not step out of prison and
into politics right away."
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge
Michael Davis reduced Wadena's
sentence afterthe 8th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals earlier ruled thathis original
sentence was too harsh.
By Jeff Armstrong
White Earth voters this week narrowly
elected the reservation's acting
chairman and District III
representative, while Leech Lake
enrollees narrowed the field of 12
District III candidates to two
challengers for the Nov. 18 general
election. The Leech Lake ballot also
included the six-reservation
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's first-ever
reservation housing board election.
With just 39% of White Earth's on-
reservation electorate casting ballots,
John Buckanaga topped challenger
Francis (Butch) Bellanger in the race
to serve the remaining 21 months of
ousted chairman Eugene (Bugger)
McArthur's term. Ralph (Bucky)
Goodman prevailed by a mere 14 vote
fill the District III seat vacated by
Buckanaga when he took over as
chairman.
In Leech Lake, Natural Resources
division director Richard Robinson
topped the polls with more than 1/5 of
the vote in a crowded field of
candidates. Robinson will square off
next month against elder Helen
Cummings, who ran a close second in
the primary. The general election victor
will serve the remainder of ousted Dist.
Ill Rep. Myron Ellis' term.
No less than 15 candidates vied for
the District III Leech Lake Housing
Board seat, dividing the vote
considerably. Martin Robinson came
out on top with 69 votes, while Jennie
Reyes picked up 67. If the results
stand, Robinson will serve a four-year
term and Reyes a two-year tenure.
However,   with just  five  votes
recount is likely.
John M. Fairbanks dominated a field
of 10 candidates for District I housing
board seats with nearly 40% of the
vote, followed by Mark Wakanabo. In
District II, Terri Finn Goggleye easily
captured the four-year housing board
position, while Terrance Roy White Sr.
was elected to the two-year slot.
Dee-bah-ji-mon editor Terri LaDuke
said the filing deadlines for Leech Lake
election challenges are Oct. 2 for Dist.
Ill appeals, Oct. 6 for housing appeals,
and Oct. 12 for a ballot recount. Any
such appeals are to be resolved by Oct.
16.
The 947 White Earth resident voter
turnout was a 37% decrease from the
1996 election totals, but up slightly
from last June's vote, which was
boycotted by tribal members
challenging the legitimacy ofthe RBC.
Goodman prevailed by a mere 14 vote   However,   with just  five  votes
margin over Elmer (Gene) Tibbetts to   separating the top five candidates, a
Federal Judge postpones casino closures
By Douglas Casgraux
Los Angeles — In a closed session
Thursday, Sept. 24, U.S. District Judge
J. Spencer Letts accepted motions from
federal prosecutors and tribal lawyers
in a government effort to force closure
of tribal casinos in Californiaoperating
with no state-tribal compact.
Judge Letts asked for more
information from California gaming
tribes before issuing an injunction
against existing video slot machines
and "unregulated" casinos not yet
signatory to the Las Vegas-funded Pala
Compact. Expressing concern for the
fate of those Indian Casino employees
and households depending on Indian
Gaming judge Letts stated:
"We're talking about the public
for immediate seizure of all video
machines and a total casino shutdown
by November 20, federal prosecutors
in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San
Francisco and San Diego have been
pressuring judge Letts and three other
federal judges at the request of
interesthere,aboutmakingsurealotof outgoing California Governor Pete
people don't suffer more than they Wilson, who will be ending his term
have to. We need to see how to put this later this year,
ruling into effect in a humanitarian Judge Letts made it very clear from
way." the bench that he would be issuing an
Backing away from previous requests Q|oC|jrgs/*0 Dn   3
Millions unaccounted for, auditors say
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A federal
audit of the Cherokee Nation's
financial books show they were largely
indecipherable and don't account for
millions of federal dollars, according
to a newspaper report.
The Daily Oklahoman, in a copyright
story, reported today that auditors say
the tribe's executive branch routinely
violates tribal and federal laws in its
spending of millions given to and
generated by the tribe.
The auditors say the tribe's money-
tracking system doesn't provide
"accurate, current and complete
reporting and disclosure of financial
activities."Nordoes it maintain records
"which adequately identify the source
and application of funds" given the
tribe.
The Oklahoman obtained a copy of
the draft report, which has been given
toCherokeeofficialsfortheircomments
and explanations before a final report
is released.
The findings come as part ofan audit
demanded by Oklahoma's
congressional delegation and
completed Sept. 3 by the inspector
general's office of the Interior
Department.
Chief Joe Byrd told reporters last
week that the audit showed no
intentional misuse of funds but said
the tribe will have to repay $88,000
spent "incorrectly" on legal fights.
Miltions/topg.3